The Quebec filmmaker was shut out of the best director category but his scrappy indie film about HIV-positive activist Ron Woodroof has vaulted him into the spotlight with prominent nominations ahead of the glitzy bash.

“Dallas Buyers Club” also earned nods for best original screenplay, film editing, and makeup and hairstyling.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Owen Pallett and Arcade Fire member Will Butler scored an Academy Award nomination for best original score for their work on “Her.” Pallett is a frequent collaborator with the Montreal-based band.

“Her” centres on a recently divorced writer played by Joaquin Phoenix who finds love with an artificial intelligence computer operating system known as Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony takes place March 2.

Toronto-based actress-turned-director Sarah Polley was shut out of the best documentary category. She had been considered a strong contender for her intensely personal documentary, “Stories We Tell.”

The film earned early critics prizes including kudos from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review and a $100,000 prize from the Toronto Film Critics Association.

In this Feb. 25, 2010 file photo, An Oscar statuette sits on display at an opening event for the "Meet The Oscars, New York" exhibit at the Time Warner Center in in New York. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is planning to change its voting system to allow members to make their picks electronically, rather than through mailed, paper ballots the way they have for years.The approximately 6,000 members of the Academy received a letter recently, asking that they provide updated email addresses. No exact timetable for the shift is in place, but this is the first step, an Academy spokeswoman said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)